PAUL RAYMOND REVIEW

Paul Raymond

You don't have to deal with sticky pages or that pesky monthly wait between issues any longer. Not when all of your favorite UK porno mags can be found in one location. Over 40 years worth of prime English filth awaits you.

If you live in the UK and you've bought any skin mags in the last 30 or so years, chances are you're already familiar with Paul Raymond's work. His publishing house produced all the classic best sellers — Escort, Mayfair, and Club International, to name a few — and helped millions of Irish and English fellas relieve themselves in the process. But unlike the old days, we don't have to rely on the mailman or, even worse, some judgemental clerk. No, it seems someone in the Raymond empire was wise enough to load all of that choice imagery onto one website. Which, according to the tour, amounts to "1000’s of super high quality photo sets as well as hundreds of hardcore videos."

Once I'd entered my login credentials and found my way inside the walls of Paul Raymond Publications, I felt like I'd stepped inside some bizarre gentleman's club of the future. The first thing that really caught my eye was the slide-show of the latest featured models. They rapidly flash between semi-nude, Playboy-esque pictures and full-on smut mag spread shots lets you know right off the bat that they've probably got whatever it is you're in the mood for.

The page itself looks very clean and modern, and the dark color scheme is really ideal for browsing in the wee hours of the night. However, as great as it all looks at first glance, there are a few flaws and inconsistencies worth noting. The lack of timestamps on their videos, for example, makes it a bit hard to pin down an exact update schedule. And you really have to wonder why they'd mark the galleries but not the videos.

Another thing that really disappointed me was the lack of model information. As I write this there 628 absolutely drop-dead-gorgeous women on the site and if I only had the model index to go by, I wouldn't know a damn thing about any of them. No biographical information is provided at all. All we get is links to their featured content. With such a killer collection of babes, that's simply unacceptable. I mean, I could understand maybe if was a mish-mash of no-names and amateurs, but these ladies are legitimate, high-end nude models and porn actresses, you know?

The same can be said about all the galleries and scenes on the site as well. There's just zero information to go on here. I really don't mind that so much, though. I have eyes. I can work it out. What did irk me, was the lack of full set downloads. We're provided with these gorgeous, shots that are excellently lit and posed and clearly magazine quality, but with no easy way to download them.

On the bright side, there's plenty of galleries to be had. In fact, if I counted correctly, there's a whopping 1950 sets on the site, with more being added all the time. Admittedly, the update schedule isn't down to an exact science here, but expect a minimum of 6-8 new galleries each month.

The content comes from 6 different magazines — Mayfair, Escort, International Club, Men Only, Razzle — although it's often not clear what set came from where since there's really no information provided. If you're familiar with the mags, though, it shouldn't be too hard to piece together. Men Only, for instance, is quite tame compared to some of the offerings of Escort, and all the magazines definitely have their own distinct style.

But as a whole, expect to see expensive sets, exotic locations, and plenty of pink. Whether it's a solo babe bent over a hotrod or two lesbians going at it, a nice view of the gash is pretty much guaranteed. I only wish these babies were available in a slightly higher resolution. hell, the full spread and penetration shots are practically begging for it.

In my experience, sites that are known for their still photography usually have dog-shit for videos — you know, pathetic little things that are short on running time and heavy on those obnoxious flashes and shutter clicks. Which is why I was so taken aback by these impressively shot, highly sensual videos that, more often than not, run well beyond the 20 minute marker.

Just like the magazines, you get a lovely mixture of soft and hardcore entertainment. Hel, even the production and style of the shoots varies quite a bit depending on which part of the archive you're in. Some scenes have absolutely no dialogue, whatsoever. Just surprisingly listenable porno music and gorgeous English models showing off their moves. Others not only allow you to hear the babes, but also their perpetually horned-up camera operator. Personally, I prefer the latter.

Obviously it's nice to hear these babes talk in their sexy accents, but it seems these speakies also have the added benefit of being much, much raunchier. Don't ask me why. Trust me, though, this isn't a bunch of glamorous models who are afraid to ruin their makeup or break a nail. I've seen these broads dive head face first into each other's slits and chow down like it's their last meal. Not at all the lady-like behavior I expected. Thank goodness.

The only real problem I can see with this whole setup is that, well, you can't download these things. Not without the help of a browser plugin or some fancy software, anyway. Your only choice is streaming them in a single format, and to make matters worse, the embedded player won't let you fast-forward. You have to wait until the entire scene has loaded to do that. And with a average download rate of 450kbps, you might be waiting quite a while.

There's not really anything in the way of bonuses available here. And with so much content, I can't really fault them. However, they have made it possible to purchase digital copies of all of these magazines, issue by issue, straight through the site. Sure as hell beats snail mail.

It's hard not to be impressed by the massive library of content this site has to offer. In addition to the expected mega-flood of H.Q. images, they've also provided members with over 600 videos, and they've been pumping out updates at a commendable pace for over a year now. The site does have its flaws, most notably the lack of ZIPs and video downloads. But Paul Raymond is still relatively new to the web, and I'm confident that, in time, they'll sort these issues out. Either way, it's still a great deal and provides an excellent dose of nostalgia. An absolute must have for fans of any of these publications.